''This Old Road'' is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

, released in 2006 on

New West Records New West Records is a record label based in Nashville and Athens, Georgia. It previously had offices in Burbank, California and Beverly Hills, California. From 2013 to 2018, New West's records in the U.S. were distributed by Alternative Distrib ...

. The underlying theme of the record is a retrospective and reflective look at what Kristofferson deems to have been important elements of his life. It was his first album of new material since 1995's '' A Moment of Forever'', which was also produced by

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was (), is an American musician, record producer, music director, film composer, documentary filmmaker and radio host. Since 2011, he has also served as president of the ...

. Kristofferson re-recorded three of his songs for the album. The original recording of "This Old Road" was released on '' Repossessed'', "The Final Attraction" appeared on '' Music from Songwriter'' and the original version of "The Burden of Freedom" appeared on '' Border Lord''.

Critical reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Thom Jurek gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars and called it a "welcome comeback" for Kristofferson, who he felt had improved "considerably" as a singer: "Kristofferson is dead-on here, razor-sharp, economical in his language, and to the bone in his insight." By contrast,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' graded it a "dud", indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."

Track listing

''All songs written by Kris Kristofferson.'' # "This Old Road" – 3:59 # "Pilgrim's Progress" – 2:14 # "The Last Thing to Go" – 2:59 # "Wild American" – 2:26 # "In the News" – 3:30 # "The Burden of Freedom" – 3:25 # "Chase the Feeling" – 4:06 # "Holy Creation" – 4:37 # "The Show Goes On" – 3:19 # "Thank You for a Life" – 3:44 # "Final Attraction" – 2:56

Personnel

*Kris Kristofferson - acoustic guitar (1–11), lead vocals (1–11), harmonica (1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11) * Steve Bruton - mandolin (1), acoustic guitar (3, 7, 9, 11), backing vocals (1–3, 7, 9, 11) *

- acoustic bass (1, 3, 7, 11), piano (1) *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

- drums (1, 7)

Chart performance

References

External links

Kris Kristofferson official website
This Old Road - video, audio {{Authority control Kris Kristofferson albums 2006 albums Albums produced by Don Was New West Records albums